CBA company to enhance professionalization
- By Liang Tao
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E-mail CRI, November 30, 2016
The Chinese Basketball Association, together with 20 top-tier clubs, has announced the establishment of CBA League (Beijing) Sports Co., which symbolizes an important step towards China's sports professionalization, with the separation between government regulation and professional management.
The newly-built company, based on retired NBA star Yao Ming's proposal, will mainly focus on reforming the administration of China's domestic league through more professional approaches in athletic and commercial operations.
The board of directors and the board of supervisors were established on the birthday(November 22nd) of the company, but the articles of association have not yet been drawn up. However, as the company gets everything on track, it will definitely make the CBA league more professional.
Clubs form a community of common destiny
According to the equity distribution plan, the Basketball Giant Advertising Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Basketball Association, accounts for 30%, and 20 clubs equally divide the remaining 70%. Thus, as the majority of the union, the clubs can form a community of common destiny and obtain sufficient voice as long as they band together.
In the past, the basketball association was dominant while clubs had to follow the association's instructions without a murmur. After the establishment of the company, if all of the 20 clubs agree, they have the right to have their say.
Once the company is fully set up, it will spontaneously follow suit as the NBA, a long-established and successful hoop union on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, which leads the global growth trend of the industry. All members of the new Chinese company will be quickly aware that the league is no longer just a pure competitive sport, but also involves business elements and everyone's interests are closely related. Their top priority should be shifted to operation. Their interests can be achieved and views can be heard, but the premise is that they need to unite rather than focus on pros and cons of a few games.
Business development, the top priority
As soon as the CBA company was established, it took the lead in divesting business development rights. Chairman Li Jinsheng said that the current contract with Infront will expire in March next year, and then a new round business exploration rights bidding will be conducted.
Once the 20 clubs form a community of common destiny, the CBA company will pay much more attention to business development. From the perspective of benefits distribution, the clubs get more benefits, the company gains accordingly. Essentially, the league's revenue means everything to everyone, no matter the company, the association, or club.
Among all business interests, sneaker sponsorship is currently the dominant issue. Some league officials have admitted that if the sneaker sponsorship is opened to players' individual sponsors, it will mark a major progress for the CBA. Indeed, the company doesn't need to put itself in the heart of the controversy. Sneaker sponsorship arouses controversy every year. The sponsor is actually hurt as well. Jerseys can reflect the sponsor information. That is enough.
Professional games are expected
Li Jinsheng also revealed that the Chinese Basketball Association is still responsible for the league competition management, but when the time is ripe it will be transferred to the CBA company to ensure a more professional league.
At present, there is an obvious shortage of professional talents in league management, which has led to the appearance of a series of incidents such as Yi Jianlian's sneaker issue early this month. However, the clubs, who know exactly what the league needs and what the players want, are capable of making improvements so that the professionalization of the league can be further enhanced.
The start-up company hopefully plans to extend the CBA's regular season. If this happens soon, we can't rule out the possibility of the introduction of a professional referee system, which will be conducive to the professional development of the entire league. More or less, an unprofessional referee who can't make calls that can be justified in the eyes of the public has undermined more than just a single game, but can ruin the public image of the sports' industry.
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